The White House plans to use the Epstein files against Democrats after they, along with several Republicans, successfully pressured lawmakers to vote to order the Justice Department to release the remaining files against President Donald Trump’s wishes.
After both houses of Congress agreed to send the Epstein files transparency act to Trump’s desk, two unnamed White House officials said Political that they plan to target Democrats who have been in contact with or associated with Epstein.
“Democrats only started talking about the Epstein cases when they thought they could use it to score political points against President Trump,” said an unnamed White House official. Political. “It will be a mistake for them.”
For months, Democrats have used Trump’s refusal to release documents about the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein to speculate that the president is hiding something or something. He denied committing any crimes and knowing about the crimes of the late financier.
Trump couldn’t avoid the “guilt by association” criticism of the issue, and eventually caved in, blessing House Republicans to vote to force the release of the documents this week.
Rep. Ro Khanna (center left) was among Democrats aggressively urging Congress to release the Epstein files (AFP/Getty).
Now the White House is preparing to highlight senior Democrats who knew Epstein, including former President Bill Clinton, who was a friend of Epstein’s but strongly denied knowledge of Epstein’s alleged child sex crimes.
“Democrats are going to regret it,” another White House official told the news agency, on condition of anonymity. “Let’s start with Stacey Plasket. You think we’re not going to make a scene of that?”
Plasket, a non-voting delegate from the US Virgin Islands, during the 2019 in February Correspondence with Epstein during a House Oversight Committee hearing, and Epstein apparently advised her on what questions to ask the witness, former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen. The revelation came last week after the House released more than 20,000 pages of documents containing Epstein’s emails.
Plasket confirmed that she had texted Epstein, but said in a statement that she condemned his series and that she had received messages “from staff, constituents and the general public offering advice, support and, in some cases, partisan vitriol, including for Epstein.”
Epstein’s island home, Little St. James, is in the US Virgin Islands, meaning he was a member of Plaskett.
The delegate also defended herself, saying she had committed no criminal wrongdoing and that it was not known at the time that Epstein was under federal investigation.
Public opinion polls show most people want the president to release the Epstein files, and the White House’s refusal has been poorly received (AFP/Getty)
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson raised questions about Plaskett and other Democrats in a statement, saying the American people “deserve” an answer.
“It’s time for the media to start asking the real questions: Why did Democrat Stacey Plasket directly text Epstein during a 2019 congressional hearing after he was convicted as a sex offender, and why did she accept thousands of dollars from him?” Jackson said.
Jackson added, “Why did Hakeem Jeffries solicit Epstein’s victims when he was convicted of a sex crime? Why did President Bill Clinton travel on Epstein’s plane 26 times? And why did one of Epstein’s victims write that she saw Clinton on Epstein’s island with two young women?”
The White House has sought to deflect attention from Trump’s ties to Epstein after the president asked the Justice Department to specifically investigate the late convicted sex offender’s ties to prominent Democrats and financial institutions.
This includes Clinton, Larry Summers, Reid Hoffman and JP Morgan Chase.
Attorney General Pam Bondi quickly agreed to Trump’s request and ordered the U.S. Attorney in charge of the Southern District of New York to investigate Epstein’s connection to the named entities.